9 Stables WWE Debuted In The WORST Way Possible
WWE groups and factions that made the worst first impressions...
All Elite Wrestling used the inaugural edition of Dynamite in 2019 to tease towards and then create The Inner Circle as AEW's clear and present danger.
Leader Chris Jericho brought Jake Hager out of the wilderness as his secret weapon, revealed that his partnership with Proud & Powerful was more than just a one-night alliance, and saw in Sammy Guevara somebody that could not only replace him as a company talisman, but serve as bait for Cody Rhodes when he wanted to jump him after the company's first ever match. The reveal right before the show went off the air served to set countless singles and tag matches up en route to Jericho Vs Rhodes for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship at Full Gear; the first pay-per-view of the Dynamite era. It also kept the nascent company's promise to do what the opposition simply weren't back then, including using stables, because good ones are great ones, regardless of late-era Vince McMahon's dislike of them.
The former Chairman's issue with factions was all the odder considering how beneficial they were during leaner times. In 1997, The Nation Of Domination, Los Boricuas and Disciples Of Apocalypse had countless terrible matches, but the combinations allowed for a workable no-fuss TV and house show rotation on the undercard. Years after the Attitude Era boom, Evolution was effective enough to elevate Dave Batista to the WrestleMania main event. Stables are great, even when they're bad.
As long as they make a good first impression...
9. The New Nation
It could be argued that Ahmed Johnson joining The Nation Of Domination in the summer of 1997 was the death of a dream, but most Ahmed Johnson-related dreams required a reality check by then anyway.
'The Pearl River Powerhouse' had taken the company by storm since his arrival in late-1995, and a brief-but-memorable run as Intercontinental Champion (branded at the time as the "People's Champion" a year and a half before The Rock made a heel gimmick out of it) seemed to set in motion an eventual push to the top of cards that appeared in dire need of fresh new babyfaces. Unfortunately, injuries robbed him of his title and continued to chip away at his momentum too - every time he looked on track, he'd suffer a setback. The pattern repeated when he finally linked up with his fiercest rivals.
Just a week on from joining the group and subsequently getting set up to fight The Undertaker for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Canadian Stampede (a show that ended up iconic in spite of Ahmed's absence), Johnson went down hurt yet again in the new Nation's first brawl with splinter group Disciples Of Apocalypse. By the time he returned (with fantastic customised NOD gear no less), he was booted and ultimately replaced by Rocky Maivia.